Cottage Cheese and Spinach Gratin

This recipe is copied directly from a site called Seasonal Chef.
I adjusted it a little and the changes are in italics. It was delicious.

Cottage Cheese and Spinach Gratin

Vegetable oil for the baking dish
1 pound spinach (about 2 bunches)
5 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1/2 teaspoon dill seeds (omit)
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander (omit)
2 cups small-curd cottage cheese (nonfat or low-fat is fine)
1/2 teaspoon salt (omit)
Freshly ground black pepper

Added 1 chopped scallion

1. Warm marinara sauce or grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Generously oil an 8-by-10-inch gratin dish or a 9-inch square baking pan.

3. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook the spinach with the water clinging to its leaves, tossing frequently, until the spinach is barely wilted. (Not all the spinach will fit into the skillet at first. Add some first, then as it cooks down, add the rest.) Press out the liquid from the wilted spinach and reserve it in a measuring cup. Finely chop the spinach.

4. In a bowl, whisk the eggs, parsley, dill, coriander, cottage cheese, salt and a little pepper. Stir in the chopped spinach and 1/4 cup of the reserved cooking liquid and mix well. Pour into the prepared dish and bake until set, about 45 minutes. Let cool for 5 to 10 minutes. To serve, cut into diamonds or squares. Top with warm marinara sauce and/or grated cheese.

Vegetable Biryani

This recipe is in the October 2007 issue of Canadian Living. October is Vegetarian Awareness Month so they have featured a number of meatless dishes. This one was delicious!...even better the next day.

3/4 cup dried green lentils
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp curry paste (Biryani if you have it)
2 cups small cauliflower florets
1 cup basmati rice
1/4 cup raisins
2-1/4 cups vegetable stock
1 cup green peas
1/4 cup toasted, sliced almonds

Cook lentils for 15 minutes in a saucepan of boiling water. Drain and set aside.
In a wok or dutch oven, heat oil and saute onions until golden. Add carrots, garlic, curry paste and saute 3 minutes. Stir in cauliflower, rice, raisins and lentils.
Add stock and bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until rice and vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes. Stir in peas and warm through. Sprinkle with almonds.

Variation: Add 2 cubed chicken breasts with the onions.

Peach Raisin Chutney

I found this recipe in a Canadian Living magazine a few years ago and have made it a couple of times. Becka asked me to make it again as it is a favourite of hers. Thank goodness Canadian Living has an excellent recipe collection on the web. If I had only one magazine subscription, it would be for this one. The recipes are not too fancy, but are trendy and tasty. I have copied and pasted from the site.

Chutneys add the spice of life to cold meats, and their sweet and sour edges are rounded off nicely with cheese, especially a cream cheese or a buttery Jarlsberg.

Ingredients

• 8 cups (2 L) Sliced peeled peaches (3-1/2 lb/1.75 kg) • 2 cups (500 mL) Packed brown sugar • 2 cups (500 mL) Chopped onions • 2 cups (500 mL) Raisins • 2 cups (500 mL) Cider vinegar • 1/2 cup (125 mL) Diced sweet red pepper • 2 tsp (10 mL) Mustard seeds • 1 tsp (5 mL) Salt • 1/2 tsp (2 mL) Each turmeric, cinnamon, curry powder, ground cumin and coriander • Pinch cayenne pepper

Preparation

In large heavy nonaluminum pot, combine peaches, sugar, onions, raisins, vinegar, red pepper, mustard seeds, salt, turmeric, cinnamon, curry powder, cumin, coriander and cayenne; bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium; simmer, stirring often, for 1 hour or until thickened and toffee-brown in colour. Remove from heat. Pour into eight 1-cup (250 mL) canning jars, leaving 1/2-inch (1 cm) headspace. Seal with prepared discs and bands. Process in boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Let cool.

Nutritional information

Per tbsp (15 mL): about 30 calories; trace protein; 0 g fat; 7 g carbohydrate.

Wild Grape Jelly

Wild grapes grow abundantly along the Grand River's trails and the fruit is ripe now. RuthieJ posted a link to a recipe from Canadian Living magazine for wild grape jelly. I did not have liquid pectin, so had to modify the recipe a little. Powdered pectin is added to the mixture earlier in the process than liquid pectin. Here is the method I used.

3 pounds wild grapes

I did not take the grapes off the stems, but I trimmed the stems as much as possible.
Put in a large pot with

3 cups water

Bring to a boil and boil for 10 minutes until grapes are soft. I mashed them with a potato masher at this point.
Place cooked grapes in a colander lined with a double thickness of cheesecloth and drain overnight. I got 3-1/2 cups of grape juice and added 1/2 cup water to make 4 cups liquid.

Put 4 cups juice in a sauce pan and add 1 package of Certo powder. Bring to a boil and add 5 cups sugar. Bring to a boil again and boil hard for 1 minute. Skim off foam and place in sterilized jars with 2 piece lids. Process in a canner for 5 minutes if using 1 cup jars.

Makes 8 cups grape jelly that is really, really good!

Grandma's Chili Sauce

6 cups chopped, peeled tomatoes
2 cups finely chopped onions
2 cups each chopped apples, pears, peaches
1 cup diced celery
2 sweet green peppers, diced
1 red pepper, sweet or hot seeded and diced
1-1/2 cup white or cider vinegar
1 tbsp pickling spice placed in a tea ball, or tied in a cheesecloth bag
2 tsp pickling salt
2 cups granulated sugar

Combine all ingredients except sugar. Bring to a boil and simmer for 2 hours. Add sugar and simmer for another 1/2 hour until desired thickness is obtained. Stir occasionally. Watch that the sauce does not stick, especially toward the end of cooking.

Place in hot canning jars. Process for 20 minutes in canner.

Makes 8 cups. ( I got just under 12 cups of sauce today after 2 hours and 15 minutes of cooking. I could have simmered it more with the lid off to make it thicker, but last year I scorched the pan and had to throw out some of the batch. Today's sauce is really good and is thick enough for me)

From the book Small Batch Preserving by Ellie Topp and Margaret Howard (a great book!)

Goulash Soup with Vegetarian Option

I had goulash soup at our local Christkindl Market and analyzed the ingredients closely. This is my adaptation of this spicy dish. I serve it with fresh spaetzle.

Cube 2 pounds of beef round into 2 cm dice
Dredge in flour and brown in oil in a large soup pot.

Add
1-2 onions, diced finely
1- 28 oz tin of diced tomatoes
4 cups of beef broth
3-5 cloves of finely diced garlic
1-2 tbsp of paprika
bay leaf, marjoram, thyme, oregano, hot pepper flakes to taste

Simmer for 1½ to 2 hours until meat is tender

Add
4 diced potatoes
4 average carrots, diced
1 large green pepper, diced

Simmer until vegetables are cooked

Vegetarian Option:
Sept 1/07

I modified this recipe and am very pleased with the vegetarian option:

Cook 1 diced onion and 2 cloves of garlic in a tbsp of oil until softened. Add 1 tbsp flour to onion mixture and 2 cups of vegetable broth. I added 1 tsp Marmite for a richer flavour.

Add tomatoes, green peppers, potato, carrot and seasonings as above. Add salt to taste.
Simmer until vegetables are done.

I added one drained tin of kidney beans. Tofu, soy crumbles or other beans could be added instead, but it is very tasty and thick even without the beans.

Serve over noodles or rice.